Give Me Five! 5 British Watches From SalonQP 2016 From Bremont, Garrick, Schofield, Robert Loomes, And A Ring-In

If you’re ever going to find five great British watches anywhere, it most certainly would be at SalonQP, the United Kingdom’s premier watch event.

So without further ado, I present you five British watches on show at the 2016 SalonQP in London.

Garrick Portsmouth

The enthusiastic Dave Brailsford, the man behind the young Garrick brand, has learned a lot in his short few years in the watch industry. And one of the things he’s learned is that it’s really good to have friends – and one of his friends is luckily Swiss movement mastermind Andreas Strehler.

Garrick Portsmouth

Strehler is behind the new movement powering the Portsmouth, which made its debut at SalonQP, a fact that ensures quality.

The UT-G01 movement of the Garrick Portsmouth comes with either a gold or silver frosted finish

And a fun little detail that I enjoyed is the word “England” stamped all over the dial. In fact, you hardly see it at first.

Bremont DH-88

Each year, Bremont makes a special edition watch commemorating an historical event. In 2016, this timepiece, the DH-88, commemorated the de Havilland DH-88 Comet, an aircraft that flew from England to Australia in 1934 in “the world’s greatest air race.”

Bremont DH-88

And there’s a little piece of the aircraft once again placed in this limited edition watch.

Bremont DH-88 movement side with propeller shaped rotor made of original spruce plywood from the 1934 de Havilland Comet Grosvenor House

Montblanc Orbis Terrarum Great Britain

Okay, I cheated a little here. This Montblanc model is, of course, Swiss made. But I just loved the British emphasis on its dial in honor of SalonQP 2016.

Montblanc Orbis Terrarum Great Britain

Based on Montblanc’s Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum, which made its debut at SIHH 2015, this timepiece reinterprets the world time function by putting the earth at the core of the timepiece; the landmasses are viewed from the North Pole looking down. The pushers are used to change the dual time zones, and there is also day/night indication.

Montblanc Orbis Terrarum Great Britain

The difference here is that the Union Jack is used to depict the day hours on the day/night indicator underneath the dial map. And the effect is stunning!